Railway-spike.



v) w I I i J W L. RATHMACHER.

RAILWAY SPIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1913.

, wwam Patented July 22, 1913.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 10, 1913. Serial Nofii'fiftii'iifi.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LOUIS RATHMAGHER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Sparta, in the county olf Randolph and Eitate of Illinois, have invented certain new. and

useful Improvements in Railway-Spikes, of which the jrfollowing IS a specification.

This invention relates to' railway spikes and has for its object the provision of an improved device of this Cl'lfilitCtGDIJfOVlded with holding teeth andwith a key forming recess arranged in a novel manner withrelation-to said teeth, whereby an efiicientengagement of the spike with the tie is insured, and whereby twisting or turning of the spike during the driving operationwill be guarded against, to thus insure the elongated head of the spike lying in the proper position to engage over the flange of the rail to be held.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which now follows:

In the accompanying drawing, Figure .1 is a perspective view'of a spike constructed in accordance with the-invention; Fig. 2 is.

a transverse sectional view upon line org-as of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a like view upon line ;1 of Fig. Land Fig. 4 is a like view upon line z-z of Fig. l. 1

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing. N

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 0 designates the shank of the spike and 6,-the head, having the elongated or extended portio-n 6 adapted to engage over the flange of 4 the rail in the usual and well known manner.

The inner face 7 of the spike, that "is, the face lying toward the portion 6*, is smooth and unobstructed so that it may ride freely down alongside the edge of the base flange of the rail.

The sides of the spike are provided with barb-like teeth 9, extending entirely across said side faces, those'portio ns of the side faces lying below said teeth-presenting plane surfaces, The rear face lfl ofthe spike is provided with barb-like teeth. 11 that lie in staggered relation to the teeth il, these teeth 11 being beveled inwardly in opposite directions and merging into a centralfikey form- ..ing recess 12 that is indented slightly below thafase 10. This recess serves the purpose o'flnrnnng a key 13, (see Fig. 2) to aid in preventing twisting of the spike during thetinin that it is being driven into position and position for efficient engagement with the base flange of the rail. This preventing 0t fact that the spike While being driven into position will take the path of ance and the path of least resistance is in a straight line. where the oppositely' inclined faces of the teeth 11 passdownwardly into the wood. The inclination of these facesis such as to resist any lateral or twisting movement of thespike. .As long as the spike travels in Patented July 22, 1913 to thereby insure the head 6 lying improperthe twisting of the spike arises from the I to least resist- This is particularly true a straight line, the inclination of these faces From the foregoing description, it will be I seen that simple and efiicient means are herein provided for accomplishlng' the ob-r jects of the invehtiombut while the elements shown and described arewell adapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the precise con struction set forth but includes within its purview such changes as may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

, Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A spike of the.character described comprising a shank portion and a head portion having an elongated extension, that face of the shank toward said extension being plane, .barb-like teeth formed upon the opposite side faces of the spike and extending entirely thereacross, the rear face of the spike having a key forming centrally located groove extending longitudinally therein, and a plurality of barb-like teeth formed upon the opposite sides of said groove and merging from the corners of the shank into said groove.

2. A spikeof the character described, com"- prising a shank portion and ahead portion' having an elongated extension, that face of a, -plu,rality'of barb-like teeth formed upon,

ja heopposite sides of-said groove and mer ingflfrom the corners of the shank 'into said groove, the last named barb-like teeth being arranged in staggered relation to the first named barh-like teeth;

3. A spike of the character described, comprising a shank portion and a head portion having an elongated extension, that face of the shank toward said extension being plane, barb-like teeth formed upon the opposite side faces of the spike and extending entirely thereacross, the rear face 'of the spike having a key forming centrally located groove extending longitudinally therein and a plurality of barb-like teeth formed upon the opposite sides of said groove and 1nerg arranged in staggered relation to the first named barb-like teeth, the side faces of the spike below the teeth carried thereby presenting plane surfaces and the front and rear faces of the spike being tapered at the bottom of the shank to form a Wedge-like point. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. I

LOUIS RATHMAOHER. Witnesses LULA M. CURTIS, EMMA K. GODDARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the (Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, I). C. 

